Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe, and reported that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014 and 5,500 in 2013.

"Salafists want to establish an Islamic state in Germany." — Hans-Georg Maaßen, director, BfV, German intelligence.

More than 800 German residents -- 60% of whom are German passport holders -- have joined the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Of these, roughly one-third have returned to Germany. — Federal Criminal Police Office.

Up to 5,000 European jihadists have returned to the continent after obtaining combat experience on the battlefields of the Middle East. — Rob Wainwright, head of Europol.

A 15-year-old German girl of Moroccan descent stabbed and seriously wounded a police officer in Hanover. The stabbing appears to be the first lone-wolf terrorist attack in Germany inspired by the Islamic State.

The incident occurred at the main train station in Hanover on the afternoon of February 26, when two police officers noticed that the girl — identified only as Safia S. — was observing and following them.

The officers approached the girl, who was wearing an Islamic headscarf, and asked her to present her identification papers. After handing over her ID, she stabbed one of the officers in the neck with a six-centimeter kitchen knife.

According to police, the attack happened so quickly that the 34-year-old officer, who was rushed to the hospital, was unable to defend himself. After her arrest, police found that Safia was also carrying a second, larger knife.

"The perpetrator did not display any emotion," a police spokesperson said. "Her only concern was for her headscarf. She was concerned that her headscarf be put back on properly after she was arrested. Whether the police officer survived, she did not care."

On March 3, Hanover Public Prosecutor Thomas Klinge revealed that Safia had travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2015 to join the Islamic State, but that her mother had persuaded her to return to Germany on January 28.

Last month, Safia S., a 15-year-old German girl of Moroccan descent, stabbed and seriously wounded a police officer in Hanover, in what appears to be the first lone-wolf terrorist attack in Germany inspired by the Islamic State.

According to police, the stabbing was premeditated: unable to join the Islamic State in Syria, Safia had determined to carry out an attack against the police in Germany.

Safia is being charged with attempted murder. She is also being charged with a terrorism offense. According to prosecutors, by travelling to Turkey to join the Islamic State, the girl violated Section 89a of the German Criminal Code, "Preparation of a serious violent offense endangering the state."

The newspaper, Die Welt, reported that Safia had been part of the local Salafist scene since 2008 — she was only seven years old at the time. She had appeared in Islamist propaganda videos alongside Pierre Vogel, a convert to Islam and one of the best-known Salafist preachers in Germany. In those videos, Vogel praised Safia for wearing a headscarf to school and for being able to recite verses from the Koran.

Safia's brother, Saleh, is reportedly being held in a jail in Turkey, where he was arrested for trying to join the Islamic State.

Until now, the only other successful Islamist attack in Germany took place at Frankfurt Airport in March 2011, when Arid Uka, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, shot and killed two United States airmen and seriously wounded two others. Uka was later sentenced to life in prison.

On February 4, 2016, German police arrested four members of an ISIS cell allegedly planning jihadist attacks in Berlin. In coordinated raids, more than 450 police searched homes and businesses linked to the cell in Berlin, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

The ringleader — a 35-year-old Algerian who was staying at a refugee shelter with his wife and two children in Attendorn — arrived in Germany in the fall of 2015. Posing as an asylum seeker from Syria, the Algerian, identified only as Farid A., is said to have received military training with the Islamic State in Syria.

Also arrested were: a 49-year-old Algerian living in Berlin under a fake French identity; a 30-year-old Algerian living in Berlin with a valid residence permit; and a 26-year-old Algerian, allegedly with ties to Islamists in Belgium, who is living in a refugee shelter in Hanover.

The men allegedly were planning to attack Checkpoint Charlie, the iconic Cold War crossing point between East and West Berlin. They also allegedly were planning to attack the Alexanderplatz, a large public square and transportation hub in the center of Berlin.

On February 8, German police arrested an alleged ISIS commander who was living at a refugee shelter in the small town of Sankt Johann. The 32-year-old jihadist, known only as Bassam and posing as a Syrian asylum seeker, had entered Germany in the fall of 2015. German intelligence authorities were unaware of the man's true identity until the German newsmagazine, Der Spiegel, interviewed him after receiving a tip from other Syrians at the shelter. Bassam said the accusations against him are false: "I want to learn German and work as a cook," he said.

In a February 5 interview with ZDF television, Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe. "The terror risk is very high," he said.

On February 4, the Berliner Zeitungquoted Maaßen as saying that the BfV had received more than 100 warnings that there were Islamic State fighters among the refugees currently living in Germany. Some of the jihadists are known to have entered Germany using fake or stolen passports.

Maaßen also revealed that the BfV knows of 230 attempts by Salafists to canvass German refugee shelters in search of new recruits. In a recent interview with the Berlin newspaper, Der Tagesspiegel, Maaßen said that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014; 5,500 in 2013; 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011.

Although Salafists make up only a small fraction of the estimated six million Muslims living in Germany today, intelligence officials warn that most of those attracted to Salafi ideology are impressionable young Muslims who, at a moment's notice, are willing to carry out terrorist acts in the name of Islam.

In an annual report, the BfV described Salafism as the "most dynamic Islamist movement in Germany." It added:

"The absolutist nature of Salafism contradicts significant parts of the German constitutional order. Specifically, Salafism rejects the democratic principles of separation of state and religion, popular sovereignty, religious and sexual self-determination, gender equality and the fundamental right to physical integrity."

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Maaßen warned: "Salafists want to establish an Islamic state in Germany."

On February 16, more than 200 German police raided the homes of 44 Salafists in the northern city state of Bremen. The Interior Minister of Bremen, Ulrich Mäurer, said he had ordered the closure of the Islamic Association of Bremen (Islamischen Fördervereins Bremen) for the alleged recruiting of jihadists for the Islamic State:

"It is rather apocalyptic that we have people living in the middle of our city who are prepared, from one day to the next, to participate massively in the terror of the Islamic State."

In December 2014, authorities in Bremen shut down another Salafist group, the Culture and Family Association (Kultur- und Familieverein, KUF), after some of its members joined the Islamic State.

More than 800 German residents — 60% of whom are German passport holders — have joined the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, according to Die Welt, based on the most recent data compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA). Of these, roughly one-third have returned to Germany. Around 130 others have been killed on the battlefield, including at least a dozen suicide bombers.

In a February 19 interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, the head of Europol, Rob Wainwright, said that up to 5,000 European jihadists have returned to the continent after obtaining combat experience on the battlefields of the Middle East. He added that further jihadist attacks in Europe were to be expected:

"Europe is now facing the greatest terrorist threat in more than ten years. We expect that ISIS or other Islamist groups will carry out an attack somewhere in Europe, with the aim of achieving high losses among the civilian population. In addition, there is the threat posed by lone-wolf attackers. The growing number of foreign fighters presents the member states of the EU with completely new challenges."

A recent poll conducted by YouGov for the news agency, Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), found that 66% of Germans expect the Islamic State to carry out a jihadist attack on German soil in 2016. Only 17% of those surveyed believe there will be no attack; 17% said they did not have an opinion.

Speaking at a gathering of international police in Berlin on February 25, Hans-Georg Maaßen, the spy chief, warned that Germany is not an island: "We have to assume that we will become the target of jihadist attacks, and we need to be prepared."

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-basedGatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him onFacebook and onTwitter. His first book,Global Fire, will be out in 2016.

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19 Reader Comments

Grant • Mar 23, 2016 at 08:18

Thank you for such fantastic content. You now top my list of news sources on this very important subject.

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Harvey • Mar 14, 2016 at 18:33

Things will only get more violent as more of these so-called migrants arrive in Germany and other EU countries.

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Mark Anderson • Mar 14, 2016 at 15:35

Welcome to the new German and European reality. Europe has imported a major problem and has no idea how to deal with it.

This is not the first such attack and it won't be the last. The problem is only going to get worse, and far more violent.

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tim • Mar 13, 2016 at 17:44

She will not be tried. She is a minor for goodness sake. They will just let her go until she stabs another German. RIP Germany.

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David tim • Mar 14, 2016 at 20:02

The age of criminal responsibility in Germany is 14. Because of the severity of the crime she will in all likelihood be tried as an adult.

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Stan Laurel • Mar 13, 2016 at 15:48

Germany is not an island; er--Britain is but it doesn't seem to make any difference. It just goes to show how pathetically stupid the British politicians are. How can an island, like Britain, be a legitimate destination for genuine "asylum" seekers? When it comes to the PC brain dead lefties who "govern" Europe and Britain and their love affair with Islamic jihadists nowhere is an island.

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steven L • Mar 13, 2016 at 15:13

For the average Westerner all this is delusional. Ms Merkel is caught between Russia and the Muslim world. And the US President is not going to be of any help since he is complicit to what is going on. The rest of Western Europe is not helping either. The road to the abyss is full of great intentions.The US president promised a transformation. We were all fooled. He is transforming the world beyond the US!!! And so far the Western world is the loser. The return of the bust of Winston was a totally ignored ominous sign.

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Jack Friedman • Mar 13, 2016 at 14:37

6 million Muslims now live in Germany. An interesting number. Poetic irony?

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Frederica • Mar 13, 2016 at 11:18

Everyday I read and see reports about incidents like these carried out by Muslims. I'm starting to wonder are the statements made by Donald Trump regarding Muslim immigrants is over the top lunacy or just precautionary sanity. Looking around at the Muslim communities that have taken root in and growing in countries like Germany, France, England, Sweden even in America plus the negative stories reported about them, what can we expect next and what are we willing to do about it.

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unique • Mar 13, 2016 at 10:49

This is what happens when you invite millions of Militants to your country to become citizens and then pay their way for years. These Muslims do not care about anyone but themselves and other Muslims.

Angela Merkel should be ashamed of herself for bringing in rapists and murderers into Germany without knowing who they are and what they planon doing to Germany and other EU countries. Merkel should be voted out and a politician with more care and interest for Germany should be voted in.

Germany also needs to deport these people that do not meet the German standards, such as: learning the German Language, willing to work, learning new skills, sending their children to school, teaching their children to assimilate into the German Culture.

Germany will never be nice again.

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Domus Canus unique • Apr 6, 2016 at 01:03

No, this is what happens when you have a German chancellor who breaks the Dublin Protocol and illegally invites the flotsam and jetsam of 3rd world of Islam to partake of the benefits a first world people have paid for in sweat equity. Missus Merkel should be cooling her heels in a jail cell for this debacle, not swanning around masquerading as the actual leader of the German people. We do not have leaders who are willing to make a stand for our way of life as they are then called Islamophobes or worse, so what we now have are alleged leaders who sell us down the river out of fear and who twist themselves into a pretzel shape to accommodate these people, all to no avail as you cannot appease the unappeasable.

All the words have been spoken, all the articles written and all the laws of our lands have been bent out of shape in an effort to bring stability to a continent that has seen its fair share of war through the centuries, yet here we sit like ducks waiting to be picked off by those from the 3rd world under the influence of a religion few from the 1st world would ever willingly cleave to without a gun being held to their head. While I do not ever advocate violence, neither do I condone my life or freedom being replaced by those who came here seeking sanctuary, only to then see them threaten those very things that brought them here in the first place.

Many condemn right wing parties gaining ground in Germany, but if they have a leader who brought this massive invasion to their front door in the first place, what then are they meant to do, lie down and roll over for the coming assault on their liberty, their country and their very existence? No, we the people must demand our leaders bring this appalling situation to a conclusion we can all live with and stop being afraid. No one has a right to shred European civilization and her people, so if those who now live here find our way of life incompatible with their religious ideology, then better they hie themselves off to a paradise in one of the 60 Muslim countries throughout the world as clearly, Europe is not up to their standards or their endless demands. Thank you.

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Vivienne Leijonhufvud • Mar 13, 2016 at 09:50

More lone wolf attacks will arise as the year wears on. Let us hope Merkel loses the current elections.

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June • Mar 13, 2016 at 09:31

The truth is that this girl and her family should have been on the high risk radar of the German anti terror list. Seven year olds are indoctrinated with parents' consent. The fact that her brother also joined ISIS is further confirmation of the parents' guilt. I dare the German government to also arrest her parents and their associates!

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Solomon Balas • Mar 13, 2016 at 08:00

Islam is attacking Western cultures and national orders. Merkel may well have resorted to the invasion as a distraction to avoid EU falling apart since it is failing economically and nation states are objecting to being ruled as colonies by unelected Commissioners loyal to Berlin.

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jeb • Mar 13, 2016 at 07:39

Personally, despite a direct connection to the Islamic State or some Imam giving orders to this young girl to stab a police officer, one has to note the level of intolerance Islam is beginning to demonstrate. The EU requires that a religion demonstrate tolerance of criticism and ridicule. Practitioners of Islam have long ignored this democratic precept but as a minority did little or represented too little a threat to register as a potential source of terrorism.The radical left would have us believe colonialism, ensuing poverty and global warming are responsible for the violence but the colonialism and ensuing poverty are perhaps even more attributable to the Ottoman Empire, than European Mandates and the US support of Israel.Last night Abbas was reported by Israeli papers to have snubbed Biden's peace initiative and pressure to move forward with a two-state solution.
Is colonialism the problem or Islam?Is Islam a politic made religious or a religion?As long as 15 year old girls are "randomly" stabbing police authorities because they represent opposition to Shariah, lone wolf does not apply it is a collective consciousness that is motivating the violence driven by political considerations that should no longer be considered "religious".

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Terence jeb • Mar 18, 2016 at 06:31

Quite right Jeb. Islam is beginning to show it's claws in the form of intolerance to any other faith. Especially with regard to what amounts to the ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims in some places. It starts off peacefully enough, and to be fair the vast majority of Muslims are quiet tolerant, peace loving, and only want to settle down in a tolerant country, and get on with their lives. Unfortunately, there is a sprinkling of those who have a twisted view of the Qu'ran, and the world in general, and they intend to foist their way on to the rest of us. It all comes down to percentages of population. As their numbers rise, the militants start asking for concessions such as sharia courts, and tolerance towards Islam. A greater level means the requests become demands, and the demands become harsher and more strident. Assaults and attacks start, the crime rate, especially sex crimes rises. For the end result see Libya, Iraq, Syria, and the prize example the Lebanon. In places such as Saudi Arabia, no other faith is tolerated, yet they want at last parity with other religions from the word go, when they settle outside Islamic countries. I said, and I stand by, that the vast majority are not militant lawbreaking killers, they are few, but as in Nazi Germany, and other places throughout history, the many will be forced to shall we say behave, just as we infidels will be. I say will, because unless we wake up, and wake up very soon as to what is happening, and the agendas of some of our leaders, it is only a matter of time.

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Jeff Page • Mar 13, 2016 at 06:48

Again yet another article highlighting the problems created by the political classes. Christian Germany is being steamrollered by Islam, and all the political classes do is look for more excuses as to why this is happening instead of facing up to reality and recognising the fact that their own stupid actions have exposed their very existence to the hatred metered out by Islamists to western societies.When are these idiots going to acknowledge the fact that our western lifestyles will never be accepted by Muslims, under any circumstances! The Muslims get voted into power on all levels of government from local to national, and it's their own Muslim 'communities' that get them there. Once voted in, they then pretend to be a caring local politician in order to gain the confidence of gullible fellow members. The main aim is ultimate power, all designed to undermine opposition from some that have no trust in them. When that doesn't work they then resort to the 'race card', even though Islam is a religion rather than a race. Of course the other politicians do exactly what the Muslims intended them to do. Panic! They don't want to be labelled as 'racist', 'bigot' 'Islamophobe' 'xenophobe' and other lame names the opposition uses to brand them with. In the end it's simply cowardice by local and national government who see it as simpler to give into what amounts to blackmail on the part of the Muslims to get their own way. Already we have witnessed the irreversible damage that these people inflict on peoples lives, they won't acknowledge or recognise any religion but that of Islam and they won't follow the laws of the land in which they live, unless the law of the land is sharia! Europe, in particular Germany and France have created a monster within their countries, something that the people today and for many generations to come will thoroughly regret for being so weak in their approach. The 17% of people who think that there will be no attack in Germany and the 17% of those who 'don't know', really ought to rethink their decisions.

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John Miller • Mar 13, 2016 at 06:08

Until the reality of a fifth column insurgency strikes home to Western governments and its sinister implications, this sort of attack will continue and increase. Donald Trump has been vilified and ridiculed in the British media for suggesting a suspension of Muslim immigration into the USA. Regardless of whether you like him or support his campaign to be President, is there not some justification for his call? The demographics of Western civilisation are under real threat of change, not for the better.

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Florian75 • Mar 13, 2016 at 05:50

Shutting down some of the Salafist centers is a good start, but it needs to be widespread throughout Germany. It' probably too little too late to avoid a Paris-style jihadist attack in Germany.